Galt
Galt (pronounced GALT) is a land where once high ideals have been laid low and mob rule has led to chaos. Once, Galt was a nation based on high ideals and was renowned as a nation of free thinkers, poets and artists. After the death of Aroden and the rise of House Thrune, the people of Galt decided it was time to throw off the rule of infernal Cheliax and their own nobles who had colluded with them. A bloody revolution followed in which many, many nobles lost their heads. The problem was the executions did not end the bloodshed and within five years the severed head of the first government rolled down the steps of the guillotine. In the forty years since then, over a dozen governments have ruled Galt, rising and falling like the waves of a stormy sea. Government Government is a fickle thing in Galt and few who claim power keep their heads for more than a few years. The revolutionary council that rules Galt changes leadership with shocking regularity as a new group of bloodthirsty revolutionaries claim power. The current leader of the revolutionary council is Korran Goss, a talented demagogue whose primary tactic for manipulating the angry mobs is redirecting their hatred. He is currently trying to shift the blames for all of Galt's woes to neighboring nations, particular Andoran. Andoran has been cautious of Galt ever since the revolution broke down into bloody mayhem, as Andoran was founded on many of the same principles as the original Galtan revolution. The only stability in the government of Galt is the Gray Gardeners, the executioners of Galt. They maintain their power and safety through anonymity as no Gray Gardener has ever unmasked himself. The Gray Gardeners are based in the city of Litran, rather than the capital Isarn where the Revolutionary Council is based. History Galt has always been a nation of free thinkers and radicals renowned for brilliant poets, artists and philosophers whose ideas shaped the politics of the whole of Avistan. Even when conquered by Cheliax during the Even-Tongued Conquest, which began in 4081 AR following Cheliax's declaration of independence during the Taldan war with Qadira, Galt still maintained this reputation and attracted free-thinkers to its renowned universities and rogues to its pristine woodlands. Galt's tumultuous fall into mob anarchy began with the ascension of House Thrune in Cheliax in 4640 AR. With the blatant devilry and capricious cruelty of their new masters in Cheliax, dissent began to bubble up in Galt. One of the most elegant expressions of this was by the half-elf philosopher Hosseter, who wrote the scathing political essays Imperial Betrayal. These essays helped increase the dislike of Imperial Cheliax and they spread dissent across Andoran and even into the heartland of Cheliax itself. Then Darl Jubannich, the poet of Woodsedge, capitalised on this by publishing his own attack on Cheliax and the very concept of the divine right of kings called On Government. This created further hatred of the new government of Cheliax which quickly blossomed into all-out rebellion. Mobs tore down all the symbols of Chelaxian oppression and executed those they felt were Chelaxian sympathisers, predominantly the nobility. Soon Hossiter and Jubannich, along with other heroes of the revolution, formed the Revolutionary Council to rule the newly-independent nation of Galt. Little did they understand the beast they had created, for within five years the first Revolutionary Council had been overthrown by another set of bloodthirsty revolutionaries who wanted change. And so began the cycle of bloodshed and revolution after revolution that has lead to Galt's decline into a nation inhabited by mobs of paranoid, revolutionary fanatics. Geography Galt is located on the eastern most edge of Avistan and is bordered by the River Kingdoms to the north, Kyonin to the west, and Taldor to the south; to the east lie the endless plains of Casmaron. Galt is a fertile area of predominantly plains but also boasts several large forests within its borders, such as the Verduran Forest and the Boarwood. It contains several beautiful cities, and before the revolution, the capital of Isarn was renowned as a city that bordered on a work of art.. Settlements * Edme * Isarn * Litran * Woodsedge People The people of Galt were once renowned for their free-thinking and lust for life, but during the long years of revolution this has slowly turned to bloodlust. Their free-thinking nature has become fanatical, revolutionary zeal, and their lust for life turned into a bloodlust towards those they perceive as responsible for the terrible conditions now prevalent in their land. All too often, the residents of Galt are forced into homelessness as the infrastructure of Galt has long since collapsed and food has become a scarce commodity. The people of Galt are generally distrustful of strangers, which is not helped by Citizen Goss's fiery rhetoric which blames all of Galt's problems on outsiders. As such, few foreigners visit Galt and those who do have to be very careful that their neck does not end up meeting one of the feared guillotines of Galt, the Final Blades. References Category:Nations of Avistan Category:Chaotic neutral nations Galt